Writing Style (jmr-writing-style)

When to trigger

• The abstract, intro, or prose buries the contribution
• Citations and numbers are not in AMA style
• The writing reads as a managerial pitch rather than a research argument
• Final language polish before submission (after the contribution is settled)

JMR-specific style rules

• Abstract: 200 words maximum, written in the third person. It should state the marketing question, the approach (experiment/model), the key result, and the contribution — not a teaser. (Title ≤ 25 words; up to 8 keywords.)
• Citations: AMA author-year style — "Thorelli (1960)" / "(Thorelli 1960)"; list all authors up to three, "et al." for four or more. There is no reference cap, so cite both relevant behavioral and modeling work. Not APA-numeric.
• Numbers in prose: report exact p-values to three digits, with no leading zero (p = .032, .97), and no more than three decimals; report effect sizes alongside significance. Mirror the table conventions in the text.
• Formatting: 12-point Times New Roman (or 12-point LaTeX font), double-spaced (tables/references may be single-spaced), 1-inch margins; no page/line numbers, no headers/footers. Keep the print article within 50 pages.

Write a front-loaded research argument

• Open with the marketing phenomenon and the research question, then the gap/tension, then what you do and find — the contribution should be visible on page one without the appendix.
• Use active voice and direct sentences; explain the mechanism or identification in plain terms before the technical detail.
• Keep it a research contribution. Managerial implications belong in the discussion as a consequence of the findings, not as the lead — leading with "what managers should do" reads as a Journal of Marketing paper.
• Match register to genre: behavioral papers narrate the process and converging studies; modeling papers state the question, the model intuition, then the identification.

AI-content disclosure

If any AI-generated content is used, it must be identified in the main document (e.g., in Methods) and noted in the Acknowledgments — write these in now so the submission conforms.

Anti-patterns

• A first-person or results-teaser abstract, or one over 200 words.
• APA-numeric citations; "p < .05" or asterisks in prose; leading zeros before decimals.
• Managerial-pitch framing that hides the research contribution.
• Polishing prose before the contribution and identification are settled.

Style execution pass for Journal of Marketing Research

Run this as a concrete capability pass. First lock the marketing construct, data or study design, inference threat, and managerial or consumer implication; then test whether the manuscript addresses marketing reviewers who expect measurement, experiments, consumer behavior, or empirical strategy to answer a marketing question.

• Primary move: Rewrite the opening and transitions so the venue-level claim, evidence object, and contribution are visible before technical detail; keep house-style limits tied to the source map.
• Decision ledger: return claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
• Sibling comparison: compare against Marketing Science for quantitative modeling, Journal of Marketing for strategic managerial contribution, Journal of Consumer Research for consumer-theory depth; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
• Verification floor: before submission-ready advice, re-open resources/official-source-map.md for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.

Output format

[Target] JMR
[Abstract] <=200 words, third person, states contribution: pass/fix
[Citations] AMA author-year: pass/fix
[Numbers] 3-digit p, no leading zero, <=3 decimals, effect sizes: pass/fix
[Argument] front-loaded, research-first (not managerial): pass/fix
[AI disclosure] present if used
[Next skill] jmr-submission

Resources

• ../../resources/official-source-map.md
• ../../resources/external_tools.md